Countdown
by FiendisHSerapH
Summary: (EDITED) Things can really turn out against what you want them to be.
1. December 27

**Countdown**  
by: FiendisHSerapH 

**December 27**

Everything was bitterly silent. Hands reached out for something tangible as it ran across the white covers. He fumbled and reached out through the disarranged sheets. He had been lying there for quite a long time that his back's already sore. Still, he fumbled, searching for warmth, for another hand to grab hold onto and for another person to share the whole day with... 

.. and the bitter feeling that tears him up inside ever since. 

Moments later, he felt the warmth he's craving for, and he soon opened his hand to let the rosy flesh mingle with his pale one. 

Warmth... that's what he yearned for after being isolated. He is so scared. 

He uttered someone's name, yet his voice seem to only let out a moan, and an incomprehensible one, that is. 

"Hush now. You need some rest. Don't force yourself too much." the voice, so feminine and hushed, advised him. It's the voice that he had always followed all his life. 

But no, all he wants to do now is to stand up and leave... breathe new air, to avoid the plaguing smell of the hospital lingering on his senses. It made him feel so drowsy, that he really wanted to avoid it, and to go away. 

He twitched his limbs, forcing some amount of enery required for him to spring up and gather his whole self again. But he seemed so drained that he just collapsed back on his bed. 

"But... I want to go home. Tell me... I am okay, am I right?" 

The one asked could offer no answer. She couldn't believe it. A few days ago they were so happy celebrating Christmas in their own household. He even ate a bunch and sang along in the newest tunes. He even gave her a special present that had required him to cut off his daily expenditures in school. And he even lavished upon the sight of his new sneakers which was her gift... a gift she knew would be so special for him because it would be his last. 

Yes, they have been so happy on that special day, and she couldn't believe that time could run so fast, so fast that it's so hard to catch up with it. 

"I am okay, am I right?" his voice now registered a certain kind of fear because of the delayed, hesitant and unspoken reply. 

Her coffee-brown eyes met up with eyes of the same color, color inherited from her. Her lips quivered as she tried to make up the words. It has been months of hiding the truth from him... yet she knew that he had this strange feeling about his own body since he noticed the changes --- drastic changes --- that have been slowly wearing his vitality away as days passed by no matter how happy they have been. 

Silence. Lapse of doubt and confusion. Silence. Period of thinking, implying... and acceptance. 

No words are needed to convey it. He somehow understood what that loss of words meant. 

"I'm okay, I'm okay... I'm okay!" he nonchalantly repeated to himself, his voice so shaky. She hugged him close, half of the most important person in her life. She hugged him, no matter how painful his fists slam against her back in reflect of the cruel discovery. The slams grew faint and fainter as his strength was drained and thrown away bit by bit, as if _Kami-sama_ doesn't want him to use it anymore. 

"It can't... it just can't..."   
He coughed, his lungs spattering out something that had always wanted to come out, something he had been trying to hold back. He shivered within her hold. 

And there it went. Light red and sticky substance stained her pink cardigan jacket. 

**- TBC -**


	2. December 28

  
**December 28**

"How are you doing?" A basket of fruits was laid down by his bedside. Added smack in the center of the arrangement were multicolored chrysanthemums, brilliant and cheery. 

He stirred as soon as he felt a presence right beside him sitting by his bed. 

"I---I'm fine.... thanks for the flowers. Somehow you should have been reminded by mom that sour and sweet fruits are refrained on my food list now." the patient replied with a hint of mockery. 

"Oh..." the lass who visited him twirled a lock of her light brown hair around her index finger and blushed. "I'm sorry. I have no idea about that." 

He laughed but then it turned into a choke. 

"Hey, are you okay?" she gently patted his back as his coughs turned incessant. He twitched about like his wole body was on fire. He proceeded coughing and then felt sudden pain on his spinal cord. The girl instantly supported him on lying down once more. Her face presented a look of pity on the patient. You see, she had been his friend since they were schoolmates. She had been noticing his queer condition five months ago. It's weird, but even though he's experiencing a great deal of pain he still manages to kid around and smile a lot. 

Just like he does now. 

"Thanks for always being there for me." he gratefully stated as he grinned. 

But no. She can't feel the same cheerful aura that he possessed months ago. It's like... whenever he smiles she's being more pained and stabbed. He is not a picture of a jolly and juvelant fellow anymore. 

There's pain in his eyes. 

"Oh, don't tell me you'll break down too." he blurted out which made her back to her senses. The pain reverberated even more in his tone and his eyes displayed more amount of it, too. 

"No, of course not." She stood up placed her hands over his forehead, and gently shuffled his hair. 

The boy then held on the girl's right hand gently, then tighter as if he doesn't want to let go. 

"Listen to me..." He began, his voice faint. "Stay with me. D-don't let me go. Hold on tight. I--- I don't.... I don't want to let go." 

_Let go._

That phrase echoed in the patient's room. That made her stop. Even though she had no idea about what's going on with her friend, she knew that everything he's experiencing is not really well. Of course, he is her friend.... and she won't let go of their friendship. But as she thought of that, she pondered; 

"What's that he really meant?" 

Even though her mind's in this type of uncertainty she still replied so as not to sadden her friend. 

"Yes, I would. I promise."   
Then, she felt his hand grab hers tighter, the kind of tightness that when he released it, a purple welt on his now seemingly delicate skin. He smiled weakly and lifelessly. 

"Thanks... very much."   
She let go, even though she really don't want to, and excused herself. As soon as she went away, she felt the lad's sadness upon seeing her leave, and it bugged her. Her heart ached when she decided to leave, but then she thought she just have to learn how to let go... 

... as early as now. 

She opened the door and walked a few steps. Just then, she met his friend's doctor. He's heading to his room. She bowed in greeting and reverence then followed him through her green eyes. Instead of going, she managed to eavesdrop a bit just to hear --- and confirm --- what and how his condition is progressing. 

And what she heard surprised her that she almost ran out of air to breathe. She ran as fast as she could like a madman of some sort. Away, away from there...   
Away, away from the truth so it won't hurt anymore. 

--oo-- 

Time is ticking down so fast, he realized it as he build concentration by listening to the heartbeats of a wall clock nearby.   
A few months ago he remembered quite well how good his whole body performed while he was practising with his team. Now he's here, lying sadly on a hospital bed and watch the day devour itself. 

Such great difference. 

Tims runs so fast, so fast that it's so hard to catch up with it. 

He looked beside his bed where the papers lay stiff. No, he doesn't want noise anymore. No more television for him now... no more sound, for it will just make it harder for him to accept the absolute reality that he's into. 

Instead, he reached out for those papers. It's a long brown envelope with a resealable lid. He gently opened it and fished out those x-ray photos of his chest. His lungs... 

He can't believe it; he lose half of it already. 

It's due to his unending choking and coughing that's why it was wasted away. It is now replaced by horrible-looking, tumor-like cells. 

Shivers were sent down his spine. He almost cried, just like he used to do when no one's around; when there's no one seeing him and no heart would break upon feeling his terrible pain. 

"I just want them to be acting just like they normally do. I want to hear them laugh out loud and don't mind me... me and my disease." 

He cried but no tears fell. His eyes were already dry, just like an oasis under a hot and scorching sun. His eyes hurt even more, yet no form of liquid fell. He presumed that he had cried too much already. 

He looked outside. It's already night time. Probably his family's now sitting on the supper table, eating merrily and sharing stories of the day. Yes, they are happy, but the only thing that made him think so negative was the fact that they were not with them anymore. 

Not with them. Not only now, but for all time. 

**- TBC -**


	3. December 29

**December 29**

That afternoon, just after lunch time, someone knocked on Room 721. 

"Brother?" a chubby little boy clad in green shirt and brown pants peeped. Following him was another lad about 2 years his senior wearing a red-cream shirt and black knee-length pants. He also took a peep as if he's doubting about entering a sacred place. 

"Hey there..." the patient's voice greeted although it doesn't seem to be a greeting anymore.   
"Sorry, kid, but he's undergoing treat---"   
"Let him enter, doc." this weak statement followed a cough --- a very dry cough --- shortly.   
"He's my younger brother, so he has a right." With that, he turned to the two.   
"Come on in." he reckoned.   
Both followed, trotting meekly alongside each other. 

"Brother, what's that?" pools of color similar as that of the patient's trained around and stopped over that thing pressed firmly against his brother's now pale skin. The older boy fixed his raven-black hair and seemed to be disgusted upon seeing faint red blood filling the tube. It's injection. 

"It's my medication..." he coughed again. "I need one more of it for today. Tonight, if I remember well." he's talking to the doctor. 

"But... does that hurt?" the black-haired boy inquired. 

The patient being cured grinned shortly. 

"Um, yeah..." he cringed as the needle made its way out of his skin and was soon replaced by a swab of cotton given by the doctor. As the black-haired boy observed, the needle was about 2 inches long and two hair's thick. 

"Brother, I have fixed your room. Mom told me so and it's my promise, remember?"   
"Also, I have tuned up your gear. You haven't done that since you checked in here." the older, his _student_, followed.   
"Thanks. I am proud of you." he reached out for his younger brother's hair and shuffled it. The latter blushed slightly and chuckled. Then, the other lad noticed something. He focused on strands of brown hair scattered on his pillow.   
"Hey, your hair... your hair..."   
"Yes, I know." he smiled slightly although in pain. "It began this morning. It won't stop. I think it doesn't want my scalp anymore."   
The older then grew silent. He now has an idea of what his mentor's going through. The patient just offered him a look as if saying that he should just keep quiet about it.   
"Just do well, little bro." he shuffled his hair yet again "Do well and better than I did." the _ototo_, not having an idea of what he's saying, simply nodded. Right, he is so innocent of what his brother's going through... 

... innocent of his slow farewell. 

Soon, knocks rained on his door. The red-clothed guy rushed forth to open it, and there we can see a new bunch of visitors, 

His friends.   
"Alex, Shingo... you're here." This sentence was strangled yet again by incessant coughing which caused the three newcomers to have an idea of what he's into. Well, they already had even before going there. They exchanged glances. 

"Hey, get well soon." the two offered flowers and their gifts for the past occassion. 

The patient grinned. "Yeah. Well, let's just hope that I still can."   
"Don't talk like that! We won't agree, we just won't." Alex retorted.   
"You're a big... no, make that the **biggest** loss in our team." Shingo followed.   
"I wish I could guys, but then..." he stopped and snapped shut. It's his big rule not to talk about it anymore. 

No more   
Just let it come   
And pass like a quiet sandstorm 

"Oh man, don't talk like that. We just can't afford if that would happen!" the eye-glassed lad named Shingo, returned.   
"No matter what happens, we'll be here." Alex, the curlyhead concluded.   
"Yeah. We're here for you." 

The lad who accompanied the patient's brother just looked at the scene and smiled and no sooner secretly adored the way these three stick together, through good times and bad. 

"By the way... " the last who spoke cut off, "He said that he'll be here... with the child you are supporting."   
The news broke a smile, this time filled with an ethereal type of charisma, on the patient's face.   
"At last, he'll be here! I have been waiting for him for so long. Ho---" 

"Hey, keep it easy." Shingo exclaimed as soon as the patient complained of back pain. His coughs turned rougher.   
"He's spewing blood!" The patient's _student_ panicked as he saw spatters of red liquid, almost pinkish due to the loss of hemoglobin.   
"Shingo, call the doctor!" Alex's face was almost out of blood due to sheer panic.   
"Big brother!" the _ototo_ shrieked due to severe worry.   
"Get him out of here, Takeshi. He'd better not see his brother like this. Remember what he strictly requested us." Alex almost shouted, his voice inaudible to his ears due to anxiety. 

"Wha-what happened to big brother?"   
"None.... let's leave." Takeshi, the lad dressed in red, made the younger boy face away from all the commotion going on inside.   
"Let me see, BIG BROTHER!" The little boy kicked his legs but Takeshi was strong enough to carry him away.   
No sooner the doctor already appeared. The patient's _ototo_ and the patient's student were about to leave when they head a loud blast of the calling machine requesting for more nurses. 

And the room they will go to is Room 721. 

**- TBC - **


	4. December 30

**December 30**

In the middle of his solitude, knocks fell upon his door.   
One   
Two   
"Come in." he tried his best to mask any lingering pain deep within him and put on a guaranteed happy voice as he welcomed them, his expected visitors. 

The door creaked open and the lad he'd been waiting for entered, with a little shadow hiding behind him. Spring-green eyes opened and focused on the one lying tangled beneath the sheets. 

"Hi there..." he uttered the first word of greeting.   
"Hey, when did you arrive? Have you gotten enough rest?" the patient asked and was worried more than the newcomer should be to him.   
"Arrived this morning, about nine. Yes, I am fine except for a little jet lag." he smiled, showing slight dimples on his right cheek, the smile the patient surely had missed. 

"You okay? You seem to be so sickly so lately. Are you sure you can still attend the World Cup Championships this coming year?" the white-skinned lad interrogated.   
"Of course I can." he replied in an instant. He coughed yet again, but he tried his best to stifle it.   
"I am expecting you there. Let me just check on your skills." his visitor grinned shortly as he stopped.   
"Anyway..." he turned behind him. The patient seemed to notice the shadow lurking behind him as if he's scared of the daylghts. 

"Come on, little fellow. Don't be shy." he teased. 

"Hes a bit antisocial, but aside from that he's so meek and innocent." the newcomer brushed away blonde fringes away from his face as he reached out to the being behind him. Gently, he coaxed him to come out front and with one hand, he led the child into the light. 

"Here he is, friend... the little child you've been supporting and raising with everything that you've been winning in gear fights." 

Wide pools of mahogany-brown delicately and innocently stared up to his donor. For the ill guy, he seemed to be such an angel disguising to be a poor child clad in yellow sando, brown shorts, with tanned skin, black-brown kinky hair, and full dark lips. His heart almost jumped in hapiness to see how far his life had reached with the help of his support. He recalled that he once saw this child from Brazil, barely two months old, left out in the dumps and almost dying due to dysentry. Now he's here and living a comfortable life, thanks to his help. He had been receiving letters from him before, but it really felt very different to see the boy whom he had been toiling for right in front of his eyes. 

"Come here, little Carlos. Let me have a good look at you."   
As if their hearts had connected and their bloods rushed into one vein, the boy boldly stepped forward and sunk right within the pale and sickly boy's arms. 

"Do you know who I am by the way?" he asked, testing if the child really knows the one responsible for his survival.   
"Yu...Yuhya. Brother Yuhya!" those wide pools twinkled as soon as his lips finally uttered the name correctly.   
"Yes, that's right!" the patient gushed... the patient named Yuhya.   
"Hey, I think he had thought of you as a missonary of something." the boy still sank within his arms as if he's meant to be there. The visitor smiled over the how fatherly his friend looked.   
"That's what I really want anyway." he paused as he collected his thoughts.   
Thank you for bringing him here with you. Thank you for making me happy." the patient grinned with such charisma that one might wonder where he is getting all of it.   
"Don't mention it. The idea just crossed my mind and I thought that it would make you happy... well, it did."   
"Absolutely!" Yuhya gushed a little happier.   
He felt a vein snap behind his neck. He just can't hide the pain anymore so he cowered. 

"Brother Yuhya?" the kid's eyes lit up in horror as his donor collapsed back to his bed.   
"Yuhya!" the blonde exclaimed as he saw his pained form.   
"I... I'm okay..." he paused, his breath coming out shallowly.   
"Are you sure you're alright?"   
"Yes..." he attempted to stand back up. Well, he did.   
Then as if by reflex, Carlos hugged him again and snuggled closer this time. 

"Brother Yuhya... don't let go. I need you." 

"Harry..." the patient finally stated the visitor's name. The little boy lost hold. The blonde sat down beside him.   
"Why, Yuhya?" he finally stated.   
"Listen, I'm going to say this only now. I just know that you'll always be with me...."   
"Huh? Just what are you talking about?" Harry was bewildered.   
"You've been there for me all along. I sometimes... don't understand if you're really my rival but then.." he paused as he let in a choked breath.   
"But then?" the listener expected to hear more.   
And now, he had seen his smile, smile the way he used to do when he was still in his perfect condition and athletic stature.   
"I... I just know that I love you now as a friend... very much. I don't know why but I really feel that I love you."   
Emerald eyes shot open in question. It's something unexpected of him to say, yet he's yearning for it anyway.   
He just felt his friend's cold hand lie on top of his. And with that, he just felt his face muscles twitch upward. He smiled.   
"I..."   
His mobile phone rang. He answered it, not letting go of the patient's hand.   
"GOODNESS!" Harry exclaimed after hanging up the phone. "Listen Yuhya, but I think this is all the time we've got. You see, the department just want Carlos back..." He looked down at the child's form beneath Yuhya's now delicate form. He's as if listening to his heartbeats. 

"Carlos, let's go." he gently pulled him away, and the kid's peaceful face was now wrecked into a violent and disturbed one. His hands still reached out to his so-called _father_, fumbling and stretching out.   
"Yuhya!"   
"Yuhya, I am so sorry..."   
"I understand. It's just the way it should be..."   
The two were of suitable distance already when the patient called out the blonde's name.   
He turned.   
He grant him the sweetest kind of smile that he could form with that condition.   
"Goodbye, Harry. Take care."   
The blonde also smiled back sweetly, but behind that smile and in those eyes, tears welled up. He finally closed the door. 

He just watched as the door roughly closed behind them. And there he was, alone again. He just laid back on the mattress. That pretending seemed to have stressed him so much and even forced himself to look good before them even though he really wasn't those times. They have left, but the kid's phrase never left the now empty and eerily quiet room. 

"**Don't let go... I need you.**" 

It reverberated even more, multiplying in number and amplitude. Now, he's hearing a thousand voices, requesting him to stay and to never leave their side. 

"**They want me here**." He concluded. 

Almost instantly, tears dripped down his eyes. 

His nose bled profusely... he felt his system broke down. 

And what made him cry even more was this certain fact that... 

...he can't move his limbs anymore. 

** - TBC - **


	5. December 31

**December 31**

New Year's Eve. A time to celebrate the separation of the past and the future. While all the noises that's going on outside, there's even more tension inside the hospital. 

"Mom, what happened to big brother?"   
"He... he's in danger..." his mother ran along breathless. They were rushing along the alley floor lined with linoleum.   
"Why is he in great danger?" his innocence strum again but his mother had no more time to answer for they were already in front of the room... 721.   
They saw the red light atop the door. They knew what's going on inside.   
"It's been an hour." a voice boomed behind them. from the shadows, the eye-glassed boy stepped out.   
"Shingo, what happened?"   
"I... I just don't know." Shingo's eyes seemed to have small veins all around them.   
You see, he had been there this afternoon. "I.. I just saw him there frozen, immobilized and... just like a stone, as if he is in a coma."   
Marimo, the patient's mother, clamped her hand on her mouth.   
"Mom, what is coma?" the little boy inquisitively stated. He pulled on his mother's white blouse but she doesn't feel it anymore.   
"Yuhya..." she stuttered. Shingo just bowed low, feeling guilty.   
"Hey Shingo..." Alex appeared behind him. He made the former's face him. After seeing the glum expression in his face, he himself seemed to have acquired the look. 

"Oh no..." he exasperatedly concluded, the thought dawning on his dormant mind.   
"Shit, it just can't be."   
"His sickness is already acute. He'd been hiding everything from us."   
"But the doctors can do another way. They save a person's life. They can do it.... just don't." 

Footsteps rampaged behind them. The young girl who then turned out to be Yuhya's other friend ran for her breath.   
"Lilica?" Alex proceeded to support the young girl from her momentary imbalance.   
"Yuhya... how is he?" was her sole statement.   
They all can offer no reply.   
"Mom, what's going on?" The little boy asked rather irritated, feeling that there's something the elders were hiding from him. 

Marimo just bowed low so that she's of the boy's level. She hugged him close.   
"Huh?" was all he managed to say because of his sheer cluelessness. 

"Don't tell me..." Tears fell down the young girl's cheeks.   
"Hush, Lilica. Let's just pray." Alex patted her shoulder.   
"Don't take him away. Don't be so selfish." the hushed prayer of an adolescent girl mingled with the cheerful noises of the crowd and the cracking of fireworks outside.   
"Wow, look at those stars!" the patient's _ototo_ rushed forth to the balcony to have a good look of those so-called stars. He was at the brink of the ninth floor of the building.   
"Kouya!" Marimo rushed to save her son, the other half of the most important person in her life.   
"No. I will lose one. I can't afford to lose the other now."   
The little boy whom she called Kouya just grinned more as more fireworks danced across the sky, his hands reaching out to the dark space.   
"Yuhya, my son..." 

For Lilica and all the others who were also standng beside another window, these past few days have been a countdown for them. The count-off began when the knew the harsh reality in a blink of an eye... it's been so sudden, through that unfortunate eavesdropping. Each day that had passed, the clock ticked, a countdown for them to hurry up squeezing forty more years of friendship into a couple of days, hours, minutes and seconds. Every dropping of time's unit was valuable, for they can never bring it back and they won't have the chance to tell him what they want. It's counting down to the very end... 

... the end of the year...   
... and unfortunately, the end of a dear friend's life. 

They just can't handle it anymore. Amidst the merrymaking and the booming fireworks, weariness and helplessness abided within their beings. _Kami-sama_ had been so unfair, so unfair to make this countdown run so fast. A moment they were at the number forty, and another they were already at its half. 

11:49 in the evening, the red light ticked off. The weary people raised their line of vision to the slowly-opening door. The doctor, bowing down as if hiding his eyes behind his bangs, emerged. 

"Doctor?"   
"What happened?"   
"Is he...?"   
They're expecting some light... 

The anticipating crowd gathered before him, the lean and seemingly drained doctor. 

"Is he?" Marimo inquired and Kouya, the younger brother, looked up at the man wearing a green hospital gown.   
The doctor set his sights up to their expectant faces, and dared not to reply. He silently walked away, his presence slicing through their flock. 

Silence means grief and acceptance fused into one void emotion. 

They felt like crying, but they held it all back and decided to confirm their worst fears. 

The door creaked and they saw him.   
No, not him, but the numerous tubules that seem to already suffocate him to his end. They seem to be the sole reason why he's slowly fading away... 

... slipping through their fingers. 

"Yuhya!" Lilica's spring green eyes went as wide as saucers.   
"Oh no..." Marimo shivered over the scene.   
Everyone was speechless.   
"Big brother!" Kouya ran towards the patient who limply lay there.   
He stirred slowly, but he can't move any muscle anymore.   
"K--Kouya." he finally uttered after a moment of discernment. The others followed on his bedside shortly.   
"_Akashimite Omedetou, minna_." he uttered his greeting, and it doesn't really register as it is anymore.   
"Speak no more, Yuhya." Alex looked up the clock. 11:51, it said. This moment, time seemed to run slow.   
His pained moan reverberated witht he blasts of RnB music playing outside. Tch, they just don't care.   
They could hear his fragile breathing, so fragile that it could just cut away any minute. He's still holding on... 

... never letting go. 

"I... I am glad." His shallow breathing still made up the words he had wanted to convey. "You're a-all here..."   
"Yuhya," Lilica rushed forth to his bedside. The two followed and also settled.   
"You three are the best... best friends that I've ever had."   
Lilica choked back a sob. Alex looked so sober and Shingo was teary-eyed.   
"They just can't afford to see their leader like that, lying in pain and almost buried in tubes. 

Fireworks cracked.   
Merriment ensued and even grew louder, taunting them.   
The speakers were on its full volume.   
Alex's favorite rap song was playing. 

Lilica managed to hold her friend's --- her _koi's_ --- hand, yet she almost threw it away because it's so cold, very corpse-like in coldness. After adapting to the chill, she still held on... 

... Never letting go. 

The beeps from his monitor had grown slow, and slower. Marimo looked up. 11:55. People by this time are already outside, anticipating the New Year. They will be never like that from now on, she realized the harsh reality that's about to fall on them. 

"Li.. Lilica." his mouth was so pale as if he's been on the cold outdoors for days.   
"I... I love you, more than as a friend. You... You've been... my crush ever since we're at... school."   
This caused hot tears to flow freely.   
"Yuhya..." the light-brown colored hair threw herself and sobbed beside him. She had her hand tightly gripped against his.   
"I... I love you too, Yuhya." 

The patient looked up.   
"Mom..." his voice was so weak and so hurting to hear.   
"My son." her tears instantly fell down.   
"You... You're the..." he coughed harshly. "... best mom in this world. I'll... I will never forget... I'll never ever forget you."   
"Yuhya, I love you, son." she sobbed relentlessly..   
"Sorry, Mom... sorry if... if I won't be there, anymore. Sorry if I won't be there when you... when you grow old..." The crying mother could also see her son's tears welling up.   
"I... I love you, mom." 

"Big brother."   
"K-Kouya. Come here." he reckoned weakly.   
The little kid who was then marvelling at the stars came.   
"What is it, _nii-san_?"   
"Promise me, you'll do good, okay?"   
"Yes, I would! But... why are you saying these things?"   
The patient just smiled and let him go.   
"Mom, why is brother saying those things?" he tugged on her blouse again.   
"He... He is just reminding you of what you're supposed to do when you grow up."   
"Huh? But he'll grow up with me, right?"   
Marimo nodded, her eyes watery. It's painful to hear herself lying.   
"Yes... he's just saying that he loves you." she ended.   
Little Kouya just grinned and ran again toward the patient.   
"I love you too, Yuhya." he smiled.   
The one lying down just grinned in return, his pale lips looking more like a thin line across his face. 

The weak pulse rang beside them. The green line ran low.   
Silence...they awaited. he still smiled and looked above. Seems as if he had nothing more to say.   
He had told them everything he would earlier his life anyway, earlier when his body was fully-functional and earlier when everything was better done than said. 

His breathing grew shaky and so unstable. It must have been the most unstable was that he had been in his life. They looked up the clock. 11:59, twenty seconds to go... 

Fireworks cracked louder.   
People hollered outside   
Laughter reigned   
The speakers were at its best.   
Merriment surrounded them, mocking them of what they were missing that night. 

"Yuhya..."   
"God, Yuhya."   
"Don't..."   
The pulse monitor gradually deviated. The green line sloped down. 

So unstable. So unsure. 

He coughed louder. His breath going rapid yet so harsh. The beeps slowed down. His eyes were so wide that one could already see the whites all around. 

Beep... Beep... 

3   
The countdown began   
Beep...   
2   
Beep...   
The green line was at its lowest. 

"Yuhya, don't..."   
"Don't break down..."   
"Don't let go. "   
"Brother?"   
He choked back his breath then his statement softened. So tranquil, so peaceful...   
Beep...   
1.   
He closed his eyes   
He resigned himself to the deafening silence, that is, sweet death.   
"Happy New Year!" The crowd beamed outside. The merriment was at its peak. 

"No... no... NO!" Lilica seemed to melt down the floor. His two teammates turned away so as to not show their watery eyes.   
"Yuhya..."   
"Brother's sleeping, isn't he?" Kouya looked at the limp form across the bed.   
"Yes, he is Kouya..." Marimo wiped her blotchy face. Darn, she just can't tell the truth to his other son that he'll be away and gone... forever 

Kouya looked more.   
"Then, why are you all crying? Look everyone, he's smiling. He's so happy upon sleeping, as if he's dreaming of happy things."   
They looked. Indeed, he is happy, but they view the happening as a total tragedy. 

Silence. Lapse of doubt and confusion. Silence. A period of thinking, implying... and acceptance. 

The little boy didn't understand.   
Or at least later he'd finally get all the pain.   
The pain of losing someone.   
... and even more than that. 

"Happy New Year, brother." was all he said. 

**- END - **

NOTES:   
1 Kami-sama - God   
2 ototo - younger brother   
3 Akashimite Omedetou, minna - Happy New Year, everyone.   
4 koi - loved one/lover   
5 -nii-san - term applied if someone's calling for an elder brother. 


End file.
